


Anchor

by Miss_Romance_Lover



Category: Emmerdale, robron
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-12
Updated: 2018-05-12
Packaged: 2019-05-05 18:57:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,097
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14624997
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miss_Romance_Lover/pseuds/Miss_Romance_Lover
Summary: Based on the spoilers for this coming week - what I'd like to see re: Aaron going missing.





	Anchor

Chas was panicking, and Paddy wasn’t far off too although he was doing his best to calm his fiancée down while their party continued in the pub. Robert had left Aaron a voicemail and several texts and now decided that enough was enough. He should have been back from visiting Liv ages ago.

He left the Woolpack and took off down the road, only to be stopped in his tracks at the sight of an ambulance parked outside the B&B. His worry for Aaron took over and he felt sick suddenly, thinking it could be him that was hurt. It didn’t occur to him to remember that Aaron had no reason he knew of to be at the B&B.

Robert ran until he reached the building anyway, breathing hard. The roof had caved in, from what he could tell. He saw Diane walking out alongside two paramedics, who were carrying Doug on a stretcher. He looked in a bad way and Robert felt for him, and for the worry his stepmum must be feeling; but he couldn’t help sighing in relief. It wasn’t his Aaron. 

He sent Diane a questioning look and she shrugged helplessly back at him before joining Doug in the ambulance. Just as Robert was telling her to call if she needed anything, someone approached him with a hand on his shoulder.

“What’s happened?”

He spun around to be met by Aaron’s concerned gaze. “Where the hell have you been?” Robert exclaimed, pulling the man into a tight hug.

“I went for a walk, didn’t you get my text?”

“No. Did you not get mine either? I was worried. We all were, you’ve been gone ages!”

“Like I said, I sent you a…anyway what’s going on here?” Aaron asked as they watched the ambulance drive away. 

“It’s Doug. Looks like the roof collapsed on him, Diane’s gone with him.”

“D’you need to get to the hospital too?”

“Not just yet, come with me and see your mum, she’s been going spare.”

“Seriously? I really did text you earlier, Rob, I didn’t mean to worry anyone.” As they walked back to the pub, Aaron brought the message up on his phone, only to find that it hadn’t been delivered. He showed Robert what it had said: ‘Need to calm down and clear head after visit. Will be late but I’ll be there. x’. 

“Shit. I didn’t think to check it had sent. Sorry. I was a bit distracted, I--”

Robert stopped walking and Aaron followed suit. He took the younger man’s hand in his and gave it a gentle squeeze. “Did something happen today? With Liv?”

Aaron sighed. “It was alright in the end. Better than I expected; she’s talking to me now at least. But there was a lot to say about everything and by the end…I think it helped her but I just got a bit overwhelmed. So I went for a drive and then walked around until I felt less...anxious.”

“Why didn’t you call me? You should have called me; I’d have come to you. You know I always would.”

“I know. And I would have called but I just didn’t want to bite your head off or take things out on you like I did after the last visit.”

“Aaron, I want you to talk to me if you need to. That’s what we promised, didn’t we?”

“Yeah we did. So that’s what I’m doing now; I was always coming home to talk to you after, okay?” He held Robert’s gaze, waited until he could see that he understood. “I just, sometimes have to figure things out on my own first. Because if I don’t then what do I end up doing? Saying horrible things I don’t mean, and the more I do that, the more I take my frustrations out on you the more you might think I actually mean it. And you’ll wonder why you ever got back with me in the first place.”

“Hey,” Robert said gently. “I will never leave you.”

“And I’ll never leave you again. But Robert, I’m not going to let my problems push you away again. So this was about me taking control and doing what I needed to do, so I could come home to you and keep the promises we made about working things out together.”

Once it was clear that Aaron had finished his explanation, Robert wrapped his arms around him and held him close for a few moments. “I’m really proud of you.”

The younger man huffed out a laugh. “Give over.”

“No, I won’t. I mean, I still don’t like the thought of you being all on your own when you’re feeling upset or anxious. But if it helped you today, then how can I argue?”

Aaron smiled at him. “Right, we’d better get inside if mum’s getting in a state. I’ll tell you about Liv later.”

About an hour later, Robert was just leaving to head for the hospital when Gerry walked into the pub. He’d just come from there himself, it turned out, and the look on his face told them all was not well. He barely got the words out before he was in tears. Doug had passed away.

“Where’s Diane?” Robert asked.

“Still at the hospital, Laurel’s with her. They told me to go, tell everyone…” as Gerry trailed off, Robert watched as Aaron came forward to put a comforting arm around his scrounger-turned-lodger-turned mate. 

Over the boy’s head, Aaron sent Robert a look that said “go to Diane”, and he nodded and turned to leave. He could still hear the murmurs and whispers of the villagers even after he got outside, everyone so shocked and saddened at the loss of their neighbour. 

He felt the loss too; he may not have been close to his stepmother’s partner but he was a good, decent man. Robert didn’t know what he was going to say, how to help Diane. But he was strengthened by thoughts of Aaron, his brave Aaron who was far stronger than he ever knew. The man who had fought his way through yet another difficult day and then still held such compassion and care, as he had just shown. 

At the end of the day, Robert could count his blessings. Because although there were things to deal with like helping Liv through her demons while she remained locked up, and being there for Diane, at least he and Aaron could do it all together. They would continue to anchor each other, and it would be alright.

**Author's Note:**

> Worth mentioning that I don't actually want to see Doug killed off (Duncan Preston is a telly legend) but it's preferable to it being the brilliant Gerry! Ending is a bit rubbish but oh well...


End file.
